social learning explanation of gender development

• acknowledges the role that social context plays in development and states that all behaviour is learned from observing others
• draws attention to the influence of the environment in shaping gender development
• direct reinforcement 


  children more likely to be praised and encouraged for demonstrating behaviour that is gender appropriate and punished for showing the opposite behaviour for their gender
• differential reinforcement 


  boys and girls are encouraged to show distinct gender appropriate behaviour where they learn their gender identity
• indirect (vicarious) reinforcement 


  if the consequences of another person’s behaviour is favourable, that behaviour is more likely to be imitated by a child

  • if the consequences are unfavourable, behaviour is less likely to be imitated
• identification 


  the process where a person attaches themselves to someone they want to be like as the qualities the person possesses are viewed as rewarding for the child - role models
• modelling 


  precise demonstration of a behaviour that may be imitated by an observer.

  eg. a girl observing her mum modeling stereotypically feminine behaviour such as preparing dinner so the girl copies her mum setting the table to model the behaviour she has witnessed
• meditational processes 


  4 processes that are central to the learning of gender behaviour

  1. attention - paying close attention to role model’s behaviour
  2. retention - remembering the behaviour and trying to reproduce it themselves
  3. motivation - wanting to be like the role model (identification)
  4. reproduction - actually being physically capable of doing the behaviour
• ✔️smith and lloyd - 4-6 month old babies dressed half the time in boy’ clothes and the other half in girls’ clothes

  when interacting with adults dressed as boys, they were given a hammer toy and encouraged to be active

  when interacting with adults dressed as girls, they were given a doll, told they were pretty and reinforced for being passive

  • suggests that gender appropriate behaviour is stamped in at an early age through differential reinforcement and supports slt
• has been a shift in social expectations and cultural norms so new forms of acceptable gender behaviour has been reinforced
• X inadequate explanation for how learning processes change with age as there is age limitations with reproduction (meditational process) which suggests that children may struggle to perform behaviours if they are not physically or intellectually capable
• X dubin - although the child may take note of the behaviour of same sex role models at an early age, selection and imitation of gender role behaviour comes later

  • consistent with kohlbergs theory that children don’t become active in their gender development until they reach gender constancy
• X the influence of age and maturation in learning gender concepts is a limitation of slt
• X little emphasis on the influence of genes and chromosomes by only considering the environments‘ influence

  • eg. david reimer case study - its not possible to raise a biologically male as a female and override the chromosomal influence
• modern researchers are more likely to accept the biosocial theory of gender 


  there are innate biological differences between boys and girls that are reinforced through social interaction and cultural expectations
• X freud would point to the importance of unconscious forces in determining gender development and be critical of the slt’s over-reliance on conscious meditational processes